Safety and Occupational Health Specialist.

Smithsonian Institution; Suitland (MD); On-site; USD 55,000 - 72,000; Full time

Job summary

The Smithsonian Institution seeks a Safety and Occupational Health Specialist to manage staff, visitor, and volunteer safety programs and oversee occupational health services for staff at the institution's sites.

Responsibilities include participating in safety committees, investigating incidents, training on chemical management, and ensuring MSDS records are current and properly stored.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's or graduate degree in safety, occupational health, or related field with relevant coursework.
• At least one year of specialized experience equivalent to GS-7 in safety/occupational health.
• Experience implementing safety programs, incidents investigations, and staff training.

Responsibilities

• Participate in in-house safety committee and recommend accident prevention measures.
• Investigate incidents, prepare written reports, and educate staff on procedures.
• Train staff on inventorying chemicals and maintaining MSDS library, labeling and storage.

Skills

Safety program management

Incident investigation

Staff training

Hazardous materials handling

Policy development

Education

Safety/occupational health education

Job description

Duties

The Safety and Occupational Health Specialist will manage the safety program for staff, visitors, volunteers, and manages the occupational health program for staff.

In This Position, You Will

• Participate in the in-house safety committee and recommend accident prevention measures that promote safety of museum employees and hundreds of visitors and students.
• Investigate incidents involving waste mishaps and prepares written reports detailing the incident(s) and educate staff on proper procedures.
• Train staff on obtaining and keeping a current inventory of chemicals for all museum divisions, obtains and keeps current the Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) library for all divisions and ensures that chemicals are properly identified, labeled, and stored.

Requirements

Conditions of employment

• Pass Pre-employment Background Investigation
• May need to complete a Probationary Period
• Maintain a Bank Account for Direct Deposit/Electronic Transfer
• Males born after 12/31/59 must be registered with Selective Service.

Conditions of Employment

• Must be able to obtain and maintain Hazardous Material Manager Certification.

Qualification requirements, including one year time-in-grade at the next lower grade level for promotion candidates, must be met within 30 days of the job announcement closing date. See the 'Required Documents' section for additional information.

For information on qualification requirements, see Qualification Standards Handbook for General Schedule Positions viewable on

Qualifications

Basic Qualifications:

Education (Undergraduate and Graduate Education):

Major study -- safety or occupational health fields (safety, occupational health, industrial hygiene), or degree in other related fields that included or was supplemented by at least 24 semester hours of study from among the following (or closely related) disciplines: safety, occupational health, industrial hygiene, occupational medicine, toxicology, public health, mathematics, physics, chemistry, biological sciences, engineering, and industrial psychology.

OR

Specialized Experience (for positions above GS-5):

• Managing safety or occupational health program elements.
• Developing and recommending safety and occupational health policy to higher levels of management.
• Applying safety and occupational health laws, regulations, principles, theories, practices, and procedures to advise on or resolve technical matters dealing with occupational safety and health requirements.
• Developing safety and occupational health standards, regulations, practices, and procedures to eliminate or control potential hazards.
• Developing or implementing programs to reduce the frequency, severity, and cost of accidents and occupational illnesses.
• Analyzing or evaluating new and existing jobs, processes, products, or other systems to determine the existence, severity, probability, and outcome of hazards.
• Designing or modifying workplaces, processes, products, or other systems to control or eliminate hazards.
• Inspecting or surveying workplaces, processes, products, or other systems for compliance with established safety and occupational health policies or standards and to identify potential new hazards.
• Training of workers, supervisors, managers, or other safety and occupational health personnel in safety or occupational health subjects.
• Work in occupational fields such as industrial hygienist, safety engineer, fire prevention engineer, health physicist, and occupational health nurse.

In Addition To The Basic Qualification Requirement Above

Experience:

You qualify for this position if you have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-07 level in the Federal Service. For this position, specialized experience is defined as implementing a safety and emergency preparedness program for an organization with widely varying work environments and hazards; inspecting work sites to identify and eliminate hazards, investigating accidents; presenting staff training and resources; and researching, interpreting and applying safety and environmental health codes, regulations and standards.

Your resume must be no more than two (2) pages and should clearly demonstrate how your experience aligns with the responsibilities and specialized experience required for this position. Do not copy language directly from the vacancy announcement, as you will be deemed ineligible for consideration. Instead, provide detailed, descriptive information about your actual experience.

Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community, student, social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

Part-time and/or unpaid experience related to this position will be considered to determine the total number of years and months of experience. Be sure to note the number of paid or unpaid hours worked each week.

Or Education:

Two full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a master’s or equivalent degree related to the position may be substituted to meet the experience requirements.

Or a Combination:

Education and experience may be combined to meet the basic qualifications. For a full explanation of this option please see the

Education

This position has a positive education requirement.

Additional information

This position is included in the bargaining unit.

This vacancy is open to the Public Under Announcement #27R-JW-314738-DEU-NMNH.

Recruitment Incentive:

Recruitment incentive(s) may be authorized for this position. However, approval for incentives are contingent upon various availability. If authorized, certain incentives will require the incumbent to sign a service agreement to remain in the Federal government for a certain time period.

Note: This statement does not imply nor guarantee an incentive will be offered and paid.

Selections may be made for vacancies across the Smithsonian Institution (SI). By applying to this position, you agree to allow your application and other personal information to be shared with one or more SI hiring officials for employment consideration for same/similar positions within the location(s) identified in this announcement.

Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

The Federal Government offers a comprehensive benefits package.

Please see Benefits at

• Flexible Spending Accounts -
• Health Insurance -
• Leave -
• Life Insurance -
• Long Term Care Insurance -
• Retirement Program -